Monday, December 14, 2009

It was… close-ish. A twelve point buffer sounds like a lot, but that can translate into just 4 matches. The “Defending Champs” had a bye going into the final round with a 20 point lead. Second placed “The Trolls” made a strong push to catch them picking up 24 points - which sounds like enough - but the “Defending Champs” had also been playing some make-up matches over the week and managed to keep their noses in front.

Three teams shared third place with 6th placed “Stimulus Package” just 7 points back. Bringing up the rear, like they had been doing all season long, were the “Angry Dragons” and “The Reach Arounds”. Not surprisingly, those two teams also had the worst Wednesday attendance record. The “Angry Dragons” only picked up 37 bonus points, which is a miserable 42% of the possible maximum (league worst), and only 68% of all their matches (second worst). On the other end of the standings, the “Defending Champs” picked up the most bonus points with 57 – 65% of the maximum (league best) and played 81% of their matches (league best). Funny how that always seems to be the case.

Looking at individual performances, Bob Rogers (“Hell’s Kitchen”) scored the most points in the league with 27. Bob also won all of his matches 3-0, and will certainly be moving up for the second half. Picking up 25 points was Chuck Doyle (“The Trolls”) who had a 6-2 record, and Mac Nutter (“Stimulus Package”) with an impressive 7-0 record. Six players (out of 99) share the ‘reliability award’! Leading by example, captains Paul Ward (“Angry Dragons”) and Ken Katz (“The Marauders”) picked up the maximum 8 possible bonus points, meaning they turned up every Wednesday. The other 4 players are Jason Trombley (“The Marauders”) - pictured left, Mark Monaghan (“Defending Champs”), Greg Davis (“The Trolls”) and Chuck Doyle (“The Trolls”).

So, congratulations to the “Defending Champs” – they definitely are deserved first half winners. Of course, I now have to go through everybody’s win / loss record and shuffle the teams around a little, so we’ll see if they can continue to dominate. But, as the statistics always indicate, if you show up and play your matches, you are more likely to be successful… The second half of the season starts on January 6. Don’t get lazy and stay away from the courts for that long! Now is time to practice…